Figure 2 - HE qualifications obtained by level of qualification 2012/13 to 2021/22
- Title: HE qualifications obtained by level of qualification
- Reference ID: SB265 Figure 2
- Location: UK
- Academic years: 2012/13 to 2021/22
- Data source: HESA
- Data collection: 051,054
- Sourced from: Higher Education Student Statistics: UK, 2021/22
- Data source link: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/sb265/figure-2
- Data file canonical link: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/sb265/figure-2.csv
- Licence: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence
- Disclaimer: Please note that this data includes rounded totals. Caution must be taken when importing into a pivot table so as not to double count.
- 2012/13 total: 788,355
- 2013/14 total: 777,625
- 2014/15 total: 775,495
- 2015/16 total: 756,960
- 2016/17 total: 775,535
- 2017/18 total: 800,025
- 2018/19 total: 828,280
- 2019/20 total: 800,715
- 2020/21 total: 872,765
- 2021/22 total: 919,940
- Last updated: Jan-23
Figure 2 - HE qualifications obtained by level of qualification
Academic years 2012/13 to 2021/22
Note that data from the HESA Student alternative record is only included from 2014/15. Data prior to 2014/15 applies to data from the HESA Student record only. There have been changes in coverage to the HESA Student alternative record over time, most notably in 2016/17 when Alternative Providers with degree awarding powers were first required to return data about students on Masters taught designated courses. Additionally in 2017/18 when all providers in the record were required for the first time to return postgraduates on both taught and research courses. See the notes for more details on coverage.
Type of data
Administrative data
Data source
HESA (Higher Education Statistics Agency) is part of Jisc. We are the experts in UK higher education data and analysis. We have been collecting higher education information since the 1994/95 academic year.
Student data is taken from both the HESA Student record and the HESA Student Alternative record. Universities, colleges and other higher education providers return data to HESA via one or other of these records on an annual basis. The records collect a wide range of information, including data about students' personal characteristics, courses and modules of study, and qualifications achieved. The Student alternative record first began in the 2014/15 academic year, with data published from the record from 2015/16 onwards. Data on students pursuing teacher training qualifications is taken from the Initial Teacher Training record, while data on students studying wholly overseas is taken from the Aggregate offshore record.
We provide data and analysis on students to a wide variety of customers, including:
- Governments
- Universities (via the Heidi Plus analytics tool)
- Academic and commercial researchers
- Students and potential students
- Policy makers.
Our data is used to regulate the sector, inform policy making, advance understanding of social and economic trends, support student decision making, and enhance public understanding of - and confidence in - the higher education sector.
Rounding and suppression strategy
We implement a rounding and suppression strategy in published and released tabulations designed to prevent the disclosure of personal information about any individual. This strategy involves rounding all numbers to the nearest multiple of 5 and suppressing percentages and averages based on small populations.
Related releases
We publish annual statistical bulletins about students in higher education.
Our HE Student Data pages collect together all of the tables we publish on students in higher education.
Further information
